Adjustable curtain-fixture.



B..B. SMITH.

ADJUSTABLE CURTAIN FIXTURE.

APPLICATION FILED 212.19, 1910.

994,794. Patented June 13, 1911.

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EZRA B. SMITH, or cHIcAGo, ILLINOIS.

ADJUSTABLE CURTAIN-FIXTURE.

Patented June 13, 1911.

Serial No. 544,819.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EZRA B. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Adjustable Curtain-Fixtures, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object to provide simple and novel fixtures for shades or ourtains which will permit the shades or curtains, together with their rollers to be shifted bodily for the purpose of bringing them into various different positions along the openings to be controlled thereby.

A further object of my invention is to produce fixtures of the character specified which will operate effectually even when applied to window casings or the like which have been warped so that the sides thereof are no longer parallel.

A further object of my invention is to produce fixtures which shall be self-locking so that if a curtain or shade roller should become loose at one end it will be positively locked and supported at the other end.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but for a full understanding of my invention and of its various objects and advantages, referencemay be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a View showing a portion of a window having a protecting shade or ourtain mounted and supported in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the fixture at one end of the curtain roller, a fragment of the roller bein shown in elevation; Fig. 3 is a view simifar to Fig. 2, showing the fixture at the opposite end of the roller, and the roller being shown partly in section; Fig. 4: is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the maner in which the roller is locked to the fixture in case of accidental displacement of the opposite end; Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 are side views of the two fixtures; and Fig. 7 is a horizontal section through one of the fixtures and its supporting track; and Fig. 8 shows a modification.

Referring to the drawing, A represents a tions.

E is a shade roller carried by the slides. It will be seen that when the slides are moved along the tracks, the shade roller travels with them so that the top of the shade may be brought at any desired height on the window.

The parts heretofore described may take any usual or desired forms except as hereinafter pointed out; and the shifting of the slides upon the track may also be accomplished in any suitable manner as, for example, by means of cords one of which extends from each of the slides to the top of the window and there passes over a suitable support so as to lift the ends of the cords extending downwardly within easy reach of a person standing by the window. It will be seen that where the slides are controlled by cords, it is difficult to pull the cords so evenly that the slides travel at exactly the same rate so as to keep the roller horizontal. Furthermore, it may happen that one of the cords is accidentally released so that one end of the roller drops. As curtain fixtures of this kind have heretofore been constructed,

an unevenness in the pull upon the controlling cords or an accidental release of one of them, permitting one end of the roller to drop, has sometimes resulted in a disengagement of the other end of the roller from its fixtures; thereby letting the whole curtain fall to the floor. In these fixtures there has also been encountered another difficulty due to the fact that the frames of windows are often sprung and warped so that the horizontal distance between the sides thereof varies at different points along the window, it being usually greater at the ends than in the center. This condition has resulted in either binding the shades or permitting the ends thereof to become disengaged from the supports and thus allowing the shades to fall.

In accordance with my invention I have provided means for overcoming the forego- While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single form of my invention I do not desire to be limited to the specific details so illustrated and described; but intend covering all constructions and arrangements which fall within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a curtain roller, a slide having a slot therein, a hook on said roller resting upon the bounding edge for the bottom of said slot, a pivoted dog on said slide for locking said hook, and a supporting cord for the slide secured to said dog at such a point as to hold the dog in looking position when the weight of the roller falls upon the cord.

2. In combination, stationary tracks, slides interlocked with said tracks so as to be free to move longitudinally'thereof and be held against movement in the lateral directions, a curtain roller extending between said slides, one end of said curtain roller being interlocked withone of the slides so as to prevent relative movements axially of the roller, the opposite end of the curtain roller having therein an elongated recess extending axially thereof and provided with a reduced mouth, the slide adjacent to the latter end of the roller having an elongated journal secured thereto and projecting into said recess, said journal having a head upon the free end thereof, and flexible supporting members for the curtain roller connected to said slides.

3. In combination, two elongated tracks, slides mounted upon said tracks so as to be free to move lengthwise thereof and be prevented from moving in the lateral direction, a curtain roller having its ends extending into proximity to said slides, means for detachably locking one end of the roller to one of the slides, the opposite end of the roller having an elongated axial opening therein, the slide adjacent to the latter end having an elongated journal extending into said opening, and flexible connections extending from said slides to support the slides and' the roller.

4. A curtain roller havlng a long axiallyextending socket in one end thereof, a plate secured upon the aforesaid end of the roller and having an opening therethrough smaller in diameter than the diameter of the socket and registering with the outlet end of the socket, a supporting member, a long journal fixed at one end to said supporting member and projecting into said socket, said journal having at its-free end a head of approximately the same diameter as the diameter of said opening, and the length of the journal independently of the head being much greater than the thickness of said plate.

5. A curtain roller having a long axiallyextending socket in one end thereof, the diameter of the socket at the mouth thereof being abruptly reduced, a supporting member, a long journal fixed at one end to said supporting member and projecting into said socket, said journal having at its free end an enlargement whose greatest transverse dimension is approximately equal to the diameter of the reduced mouth of the socket, and the length of said journal independently of said enlargement being much greater than the length of the reduced portion of the socket measured lengthwise of the roller.

6. In combination, stationary tracks, a curtain roller extending transversely of and between the tracks, means for slidably mounting one end of said roller upon one of said tracks so as to permit it to move longitudinally of that track and prevent it from moving bodily toward the other track, a slide mounted on the second track adjacent to the opposite end of the roller, the latter end of the roller having a long socket extending axially thereof, the mouth of the socket being reduced in diameter, and an elongated journal fixed at one end to said slide and extending into said socket, said journal having an enlargement at its free end, the length of the journal independently of the socket being great enough to permit the adjacent end of the roller to move from and toward the corresponding track as the distance between the two tracks varies.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

EZRA B. SMITH.

WVitnesses:

WM. F. FREUDENREIGH, H. S. GAITHER. 1

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

